


First Flight

by karasunovolleygays



Series: Valentine's Kisses 2021 [5]
Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M, Post-Graduation, dealing with the future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:13:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28608846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karasunovolleygays/pseuds/karasunovolleygays
Summary: Seiichi invites Genichirou over for one last night together before he leaves for the realm of professional tennis, but the plan isn't so cut and dried.
Relationships: Sanada Genichirou/Yukimura Seiichi
Series: Valentine's Kisses 2021 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2087100
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	First Flight

**Author's Note:**

> Kiss prompt: guys furrowing their brow when kissing passionately

The glow of the sun, setting through swaths of March clouds, casts an almost otherworldly glow upon the tennis courts of Rikkaidai High School. Atop the knoll overlooking the courts, just where the concrete steps begin to descend, a captain and his vice are perched to bid a final farewell to that playing field.

Seiichi, his jacket draped over his shoulders, leans forward atop his knees, drinking in the sight. Next to him, Genichirou sits ramrod straight with his arms crossed, his stolid appearance only softened by the telltale flap of his fringe over his eyes.

Are they mismatched? Perhaps. A stranger may not happen upon the two and conclude they are childhood friends, forged into something even stronger by time and adversity. One might miss the way that Genichirou faces forward, but his gaze frequently drifts over toward Seiichi.

The gesture, however, doesn’t go unnoticed by Seiichi. There is little he misses when it comes to Genichirou. “We can stay here as long as you like, Genichirou, but eventually, we’re going to have to talk.”

Genichirou answers with a grunt. Ten years of companionship inform Seiichi of the sound, a gruff ‘I’m working up to it’. An understandable sentiment, considering how much time they have left together — or, more accurately, how much they do not have. He has said all of his goodbyes except for this one. 

“When does your plane leave?” Genichirou finally asks.

“Noon tomorrow.” They don’t discuss where or how long; they both know it already. “I’m all packed, so I’m free tonight.”

Genichirou nods, and his shoulders leak out some of their tension. Seiichi has always wished Genichirou would carry himself a little less rigidly. In addition to the discomfort of such a stiff posture, it also serves to alienate Genichirou from people around him who might get close enough to see past his stony surface. 

Beneath lies a young man who can run a marathon, but the idea of giving an oral report in class makes him queasy. It’s the same boy who had climbed a huge tree at the tender age of ten to rescue a kitten from its heights. The very one who had openly wept the day Seiichi walked out of the hospital under his own power a few years before.

Seiichi can shed his own tears over this later. This evening is only for Genichirou, one last night with his first love before the world of professional tennis drags him all over the globe.

He doesn’t want to waste a second of it.

“Are you ready?” Seiichi murmurs, resting a hand on Genichirou’s now-ample bicep.

“I’m ready.” Genichirou’s large, weathered palm closes over Seiichi’s, and their fingers tangle together. 

Genichirou is the first to stand. He helps Seiichi to his feet, and Seiichi lets him. It’s not the first time he lets Genichirou feel needed for trivial things, even if to remind him that Seiichi needs him in other ways. Nobody else but Genichirou sees the person beyond the tennis prodigy, underneath the openly displayed surgical scars.

Hand in hand, they walk to Seiichi’s house. It’s four kilometers away from Rikkai High, but the walk gives Seiichi that much more time to take in the sensation of Genichirou’s skin against his. Once they reach the Yukimura residence, their time alone will end until his sister and parents call it a night. 

By the time they arrive, dinner is already cold, but nobody mentions it. Their meal passes like any other their family has, save for the occasional question for Genichirou, whose reply is stilted but unfailingly polite.

Once everything is cleared away and washed, his sister Souji lies, “I have a ton of homework to do.” She shoots Seiichi a wink. “I’ll see you in the morning, nii-chan.”

“Of course.” His smile is wide and fond, proud of his thirteen year old sibling for giving this to him. 

Before heading upstairs, Souji pecks a kiss on Genichirou’s flaming cheek. “Good night, Gen-chan.”

Seiichi can barely stifle a chuckle at the nickname. As much a terror as Genichirou’s nephew is, Souji is that much sweeter to him. He isn’t sure which perplexes Genichirou more.

Both Seiichi and Genichirou start when Mrs. Yukimura says, “We’re going out for a bit. There’s some lewd version of _CATS_ playing at the theater downtown and I’m dying to know if it’s as bad as Mai-chan says it is.”

“You know it is, dear,” Mr. Yukimura states. “But we’ll make sure.” Minutes later, the Yukimuras are off, leaving their son and Genichirou alone far earlier than planned. 

Genichirou stares at the door where Seiichi’s parents had just exited. When Seiichi places a hand on his arm, he jumps. “Genichirou, are you all right?”

“Seiichi . . .” A shaking hand strokes Seiichi’s cheek.

The unusual sound of his given name makes Seiichi’s eyes widen. Genichirou’s manners are as stark as his posture, and names with no honorifics are an intimacy to be hidden away. The Yukimuras, who are already accustomed to the international scene, have few hangups about that.

Nonetheless, hearing his name on Genichirou’s tongue makes Seiichi shiver. “Come with me.”

Upstairs, the door to Seiichi’s room closes behind them with a _click._ Both of them had already shed their school jackets and ties, leaving just a few layers between them, but that doesn’t matter. All Seiichi wants to do is drink in the sight of Genichirou’s grumpy face, which transforms into something dangerously approaching adoration when they’re alone.

Genichirou pulls Seiichi tightly to his chest. Their lips hover close together until they touch for a moment. Eyes screwed shut, Genichirou’s entire face pinches after the contact. Seiichi chuckles. “If I didn’t know any better, I could swear you hate this.”

“I do,” Genichirou rasps before he crushes their mouths together. Hands scrabble at buttons until a pair of white shirtsleeves flutter to the floor.

Seiichi tears away to take in Genichirou’s powerful torso, corded with muscle and gloved in sun-kissed skin. Once he sheds the remaining undershirt, Seiichi’s nails rake down Genichirou’s chest. “You’re beautiful, Genichirou. Not just the outside.” His hand slides up to rest over Genichirou’s pounding heart. “Here, too. There are so many things I love about you.”

Frozen under Seiichi’s touch, Genichirou doesn’t move until Seiichi pushes him backward onto the neatly made bed. “And for tonight, you’re all mine.”

“Always.” 

The word clatters around in Seiichi’s brain. _Always._ Not ‘tonight’ or anything in the past tense, just _always._ “You know I can’t —”

“I know.” 

The matter-of-fact statement withers nearly all the will Seiichi has to continue. “I can’t do this to you.” 

Genichirou gawks up at him. “Why?”

“You know why.” Seiichi drops down on the edge of the bed and sighs. “I thought maybe we could get each other out of our systems, and it wouldn’t be so hard to get on with life because there’s no mystery left between us.” 

He lies down next to Genichirou and buries his face in silken black hair. “All we’ll do is make each other want something we can’t have.”

“I —” Genichirou stares up at the ceiling, eyes glistening with tears. “You’re right.”

“I know.” Seiichi’s arms tuck around Genichirou’s waist and pull him closer. “We’ll just stay like this, okay?”

Growling under his breath, Genichirou pries himself from Seiichi’s grasp and rolls over to face the wall. “This is embarrassing.”

Seiichi smooths his hand over the slope of Genichirou’s soldier. “It’s not embarrassing. It just is.” He fits himself up against Genichirou’s back and throws an arm over his side. “If this was meant to last, either I’d stay here with you or you would come with me. The fact that neither of us considered it tells us all we need to know. 

“At least this way, we get to say goodbye to each other the right way.” Seiichi presses a kiss to Genichirou’s shoulder. “If we don’t, we’ll both regret it.”

“I know.” 

They stay tucked into each other quietly until they both fall asleep, still half-dressed.

His phone ringtone shakes Seiichi awake at seven in the morning, but before he opens his eyes, he knows he is alone. The puddle of clothes left on the floor from the night before is gone. Seiichi’s shirt is on a hanger on the back of his door, and Genichirou’s is gone entirely.

Seiichi sits on the edge of his bed and sighs. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. 

The morning crawls by until it’s finally time for Seiichi to catch the bus to the airport, his thoughts his only traveling companion. Genichirou had been hurting the previous night, but waking up in an empty bed was beyond surprising. 

It really is over, their last goodbye a turned back and silence. 

Past the security checkpoint, Seiichi pulls his carry-on along, taking in the sights of the airport around him. This is his life now: hotel rooms and runways between matches. He’ll never get to wake up excited to see Genichirou at practice or in class. The concept is a lot lonelier than it had been the previous morning.

In for an hour waiting until his plane boards, Seiichi sits facing out the terminal’s wide windows. In his previous travels, one thing he has noticed is that one tarmac looks much like the next. Perhaps the next time he waits to get on a plane, he can fancy himself coming home.

“I’m not sure what that is anymore,” he murmurs under his breath.”

“It’s the Qantas Airlines terminal at Narita,” comes an achingly familiar voice behind him. 

Seiichi’s breath catches,but he can’t help but look over his shoulder at Genichirou, a duffel bag draped over his shoulder and a smile teasing his usually stolid lips. “I did wake up, right?”

“I assume so.” Genichirou drops into the chair next to Seiichi. “I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about what you said.” At Seiichi’s raised brow, he supplied, “That all we would do is make each other want something we can’t have.”

Genichirou’s hand covers Seiichi’s on the handle of his suitcase. “I don’t accept those as the only choices.” His thumb stroking the length of Seiichi’s long, slender fingers, he adds, “You can’t stay here, so I’m going with you.” 

Eyes wide, Seiichi’s mouth turns down into a frown and he shakes his head. “I can’t let you do that. What about college?”

“Online classes.”

“You hate computers.” 

“I’ll get over it.” Genichirou pulls an airline ticket from his jacket pocket. “I’ve never seen Australia. I’m looking forward to seeing it with you.” 

Words abandon Seiichi while he absorbs the statement. Is it truly that simple? Can he really jump on a plane with Genichirou and start a new phase of life together? Just like that?

“Now you see why I couldn't sleep.” 

Seiichi hums affirmatively, but his attention is riveted on Genichirou. The offer is made freely, but how long will it take for Genichirou to resent him for putting his own future on hold? Taking online classes is one thing, but what about five years in the future? Seiichi will still be playing, and Genichirou will have a degree burning a hole in his luggage. 

Closing his eyes, Seiichi whispers, “I can’t ask you to do that.” 

“You don’t have to.” Large, rough hands cup Seiichi’s jaw. “I want to do it. Almost as much as I want to kiss you.”

“Here?”

“Here.” 

For the first time since he woke up alone, the weight of this transition rolls off of Seiichi. He flings his arms around Genichirou’s neck to claim the kiss he had hoped to receive that morning. 

It’s a short and sweet thing amidst a crowd of curious onlookers, but it’s enough to get a start on the rest of their lives. This time, they’ll start it together.

Resting his cheek on Genichirou’s shoulder, Seiichi says, “I like it when you get all assertive.”

Genichirou’s entire face flames, and Seiichi giggles. Some things may radically change, but the best things, the things that matter most, will stick with them forever.


End file.
